Smoke filled your mouth and lungs as you lit another cigarette. How many have you had tonight? A pack? Maybe even two? It didn't matter, really, since it was Thursday, the "happiest" day of the week. All sins done to your body tonight can be forgiven.
The university you went to only had four school days, starting on Monday and ending on Thursday. Moreover, a handful of bars were only a stone's throw away from campus. How those bars got a permit from the local government despite being in close proximity to an academic institution was beyond you.
These were the reasons behind the infamous Happy Thursday culture among the students in your university. All the parties and the drinking were so wild during this night that people who didn't even go to your school soon got word of mouth about how lit Thursdays were at William Avenue.
As a freshman, it was kind of like a rite of passage to experience Happy Thursday at least once in your college life. Being a sophomore and having stayed for five terms at the university, it was safe to say that the novelty of Happy Thursdays had worn off on you.
In fact, sometimes, when your usual drinking buddies asked you out for a drink, you turned them down, lying about how you were loaded with school work when in reality you just didn't feel like it. They say that repetition caused things to lose their value, and that was exactly how it felt for you.
But this particular Thursday night was something else.
You rarely prayed, but that night, you thanked God for letting yourself decide to go out with your friends because if you hadn't, you wouldn't have met him.
Minseok had mentioned a few days ago about how he invited some of his new friends from his Organic Chemistry class to drink with you guys, but it totally slipped your mind. You only remembered this when he entered the bar with three guys that you hadn't seen before in your life.
All of them were good-looking, but the tallest one, the one who was wearing a black hoodie, was especially striking.
Minseok waved at you and then motioned to the other guys to follow him. He and a bronze-skinned guy sat on your side of the table while the other two sat oppositely.
"Guys, this is my good friend. We've been friends since freshman year," Minseok introduced you. "She's my favorite drinking buddy."
You snorted. "Favorite?"
Minseok gave you a face and the other guys laughed at the two of you teasing each other.
He then introduced them: the tan guy was Jongin, and the guy that sat opposite him was Sehun. They were both majoring in dance.
Minseok was about to introduce the guy in the black hoodie when the guy suddenly said, "I'm Chanyeol," while he smiled and extended his hand to you. "It's nice to meet you."
You shook his hand and you noticed that the exchange was firmer than the usual handshake. "Likewise," you said, and all you could think about was how bright his smile was and how you felt something weird, something like faint electricity course through your fingertips the moment you touched his hand.
"I think I've seen you before," he pondered.
"Her?" Minseok asked, pointing at you. "Really? Where? She's not really the type to wander around though. She likes to keep to herself most of the time when she doesn't have classes. She's a little weird."
You scowled at him. "Shut up, Min."
Chanyeol laughed. "Nah, I think I've had a class with her before." He looked at you and asked, "Did you have Mr. Lee for Literature last term?"
A light bulb suddenly turned on inside your head. That was why Chanyeol stood out so much as soon as you saw him—not only was he somewhat good-looking, but it was also because he looked familiar.
But the two of you have never talked. What Minseok said was true; you liked to keep to yourself most of the time and you weren't exactly the friendly type. You had a quality over quantity kind of philosophy in life, which was why you preferred to keep your circle of friends small.
You were charismatic enough—well, at least that was what people said about you—it was just that you were an exceptionally straightforward person and that you didn't particularly enjoy wasting energy on people who you didn't like. Your friends and even your brother had noticed this about you, and you took pride in being known as someone who was brutally honest and real, despite the possibility of people taking your personality the wrong way.
"Yeah, I remember you from that class," you nodded at Chanyeol. "You're the guy who always came late to class and when you enter the room you don't bother taking off your earphones."
"That's right," he laughed. "I still got good marks though."
"Good for you then."
_
Jongin was the first one to get wasted. Minseok and Sehun had to take him home to make sure that he wouldn't do anything compromising while he's drunk. Sehun had brought a car, but Minseok didn't trust him with driving as Sehun's eyes were questionably glassy, so he decided to do it himself.
At first, Minseok wasn't sure of leaving you with Chanyeol as the two of you had just met and he didn't want to burden Chanyeol with the responsibility of being the one to take you home. Chanyeol insisted that it was okay with him, and you said that you were fine with it as well. After all, you and Chanyeol had been talking with each other all night.
Chanyeol was a great conversationalist. You admired people who kept the conversation going as if there was nothing to be awkward about.
He was a pretty decent drinker too. You had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, so you would know when a person could keep their drinks down. Even though all of you had a lot to drink, you, Chanyeol, and Minseok were the only ones who still looked the same as when the night started.
Minseok had left with Jongin and Sehun a little while ago, and you and Chanyeol left the bar as well after finishing all the drinks that you had ordered.
As his Benz stopped at a red light, you brought out your phone to check what time it was. It was just a few minutes past midnight, a little too early to go home for a Happy Thursday.
"I don't want to go home yet. Do you know a place where we can eat? I'm a little hungry." Just as you said that, your stomach growled a little loud for someone who claimed to be not that hungry.
Chanyeol laughed. "I don't think you're just a little hungry."
"Yeah, no shit," you chuckled.
The light turned green and Chanyeol drove forward. "There aren't a lot of decent places to grab a bite that are open at this time, though..." He scratched the back of his head.
"Well that sucks," you said, and your stomach rumbled once more.
"But if you're really hungry, you can eat something at my place. I live pretty near," Chanyeol suggested, keeping his eyes on the road. "I'll drive you home after you've eaten."
Now, if any other guy had said this, it would've sounded like an invitation to a one-night stand. You would know; you had a lot of those. But Chanyeol said it in such a nonchalant way like he wasn't implying anything else, like what he said was what he really meant. It was either that or you were just getting rusty at reading men. The latter seemed less probable, though, as you could read any guy like an open book after all the shitty experiences you had with them.
You agreed to Chanyeol's idea, and he turned his car around at the next U-turn slot.
His place was pretty clean for a guy. You wondered if he kept it clean for the girls he brought up here, but you had been to a lot of guys' places and none of their places looked as decent as Chanyeol's.
The condo unit looked relatively small, but considering the fact that Chanyeol lived alone, it seemed more than enough. It had a high ceiling that allowed a loft to have two small rooms, one being his bedroom and the other his closet.
The living room—you figured, as there was a black loveseat against the wall—looked more like a miniature music studio: computers, instruments, soundboards, and other stuff you didn't have a name for was all over the place.
Chanyeol noticed you were staring at his work desk. "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention that I'm majoring in music production. I'm in my junior year."
"That's cool."
He gave you an amused smile. "I'll get the food ready. I hope you like pasta," and then he disappears to the kitchen.
You sat in front of his work desk and turned his computer on to check out the kind of music he's been working on. Your brother was also a music production major in his third year of college, and you wondered if he and Chanyeol knew each other.
They even used the same software, making it easier for you to navigate yourself through it as you had seen your brother do so a million times at home. After a while, you found the folder where he kept his demos and you listened to a few of them.
You were too busy bobbing your head to the beat of a particular demo that you didn't notice Chanyeol crouched behind you until he asked, "Does it sound okay?"
You jumped in your seat because of the sudden voice in your ear. "Fuck, you scared the shit out of me," you told him as you turned your head around to look at him, noticing that he had his hands resting on the edge of the desk, enveloping you and the space you were sitting in.
Heat creeped up to your chest and you weren't sure if the alcohol was finally kicking in or if it was something else. Embarrassed, you directed your focus back to the monitor.
"Sorry for sort of trespassing," you apologized. "My brother also makes music so I was curious what kind of songs you were making."
"You've listened to a couple of demos. What do you think?" He asked.
He was still dangerously close to you, so you didn't dare to turn your head around once more. You kept looking straight at the computer screen.
"They sound pretty good," you admitted. "Chill RnB, my kind of music. Kind of like the songs you put on when you're getting laid or want to get laid."
Chanyeol dropped his head in laughter and his face's close proximity with your neck made your skin prickle with static. "So they sound like sex songs?" He questioned.
"Uh, yeah," you tried your best to sound casual. "I mean, there aren't a lot of scenarios where you can play songs that sound sort of hot as these do."
"They sound hot?" Chanyeol asked and you could swear that his already low-pitched voice went even lower.
You turned your head to see his expression: his eyebrows were furrowed, his lips were formed into a slight pout, and his eyes sparkled as he looked at the monitor.
The heat you felt in your chest earlier was now a full-brown wildfire.
He noticed you were looking at him. "Uh..." He looked at your lips and then licked his just as the microwave in the kitchen beeped. "Food's ready, I guess," he said in a quiet, hoarse tone.
But you weren't hungry anymore.
In a blur of teeth and tongue, the two of you were on the couch.
You promised yourself that you wouldn't sleep around anymore, but there you were, straddling a guy you just met a few hours ago. You hated yourself for it but you enjoyed it at the same time; you relished in the adrenaline and pleasure that you got from it.
You promised yourself that a lot, but every time you decided that it would be the last time, you found yourself in another guy's place over and over again until you accepted it as a pastime.
The fact that Chanyeol was a damn good kisser wasn't helping, either.
Damn, you thought. The guy knows what he's doing.
He rested his right hand at the small of your back to keep you in place while his other hand was on your hips, his thumb making lazy circles on your skin where your hipbone lied underneath. His legs were long enough for you to be at ease on his thighs and for him to sit comfortably with his feet planted on the ground.
He gently tugged at your bottom lip and you bit back a moan. As your mouths continued their push and pull, you felt your phone vibrate from your back pocket; someone was calling you.
Your lips broke away from his to see who it was, Chanyeol groaning at the lost contact. "What is it?" He asked.
You held up your screen to show him that Minseok was calling you.
"Way to cockblock, Minseok," he remarked. "Just ignore him."
His mouth then found its way to your neck, his lips feeling cool against your flushed skin. You tried so hard not to melt all at once.
"I have to answer this or else he'll be worried," you said through short breaths.
Chanyeol wasn't playing around, though. He ignored you and continued working on your neck, electrifying your skin and giving you goosebumps. You answered the call and brought the phone up to your ear as he kissed you over and over, dark marks appearing where his lips have been.
"Min, what's up?" You struggled to keep a steady voice.
"Did you get home safe? I've sent you like a hundred texts but you didn't reply to any of them."
Chanyeol then started to work from your collarbone up to your jaw, making it harder and harder for you to concentrate on stabilizing your voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine," you said through subdued whimpers.
"Wait, are you—"
"Yes," you admitted in a small voice. "Bye, Min," you hung up, deciding that you couldn't take it anymore with Chanyeol making you dizzy with lust.
His lips found yours the moment you ended the call, wasting no time. In one swift movement, he took your phone from your hand and put it down on the space beside him.
You could feel him through his jeans, and the inside of your thighs couldn't help but get warm at the thought of him enjoying this. It was evident from the sloppy kisses the two of you were exchanging that playtime was over; you both needed to let out the tension that had been building up from the moment your lips first touched.
"Fuck," Chanyeol said as he broke away from the kiss. "Let's go upstairs."
How the two of you managed to get each other half-naked while going up the stairs, you had no idea. Lust truly made man primitive, not letting anything get in the way while in pursuit of pleasure.
By the time you pushed him onto the bed, the two of you were breathing heavily, both of your bodies glistening with a thin sheen of sweat.
You climbed right back on top of him after you've finished unbuckling his belt and pulling his pants off. Your lips reclaimed his, your bare chests against each other, and you could feel each other's unusually fast heartbeats.
When your mouth traveled to his neck, Chanyeol reached out to the drawer of his bedside table and grabbed a small square blue packet.
You got off of him for a while so that he could fit into it. You inhaled sharply as you sank yourself on him, and you could see him dissolving into pleasure as he rolled his head back with his eyes tightly shut.
You were indoors that night, but you were seeing stars.
When all was said and done, his chest settled against your back while his hands were wrapped around you. From the way he was softly snoring into the crook of your neck, you could tell that he was fast asleep.
You wanted to succumb to your soreness and sleep too, but you had made it your mission in life not to be the girl who stayed at a guy's place after a one-night stand.
The last time you let yourself get played by a guy, you swore an oath to yourself that you would never get attached to anyone ever again and look like the fragile little thing that all men stereotyped women to be. That was the reason why you always did it in his place, never yours, because you wanted to be the one to sneak out after the deed and make him wonder why you didn't wake him up or waited for him to do so, instead of the other way around.
As you got dressed, you looked at Chanyeol sleeping soundly. His arm was sprawled over what was your side of the bed, probably not noticing that it was now cold and empty. His ears were still red from what the two of you did a few hours ago, looking out of place in contrast to the softness of his face as he slept deeply.
You took one last look at him before you headed out the door, wondering for the millionth time if he could finally be the last guy that you used as a scapegoat to cope with the gaping hole that has been lingering in your chest for the past six months.